KNOXVILLE - An independent report turned over to the University of Tennessee last week with recommendations for how the university system can improve its handling of sexual misconduct included suggestions specifically geared toward athletics.
The 28-page report suggested that "targeted focus in this area should continue" even as it noted that athletics department personnel "demonstrated a heightened awareness of the importance of Title IX prevention and compliance."
Compiled by a four-person commission of Title IX experts unaffiliated with the university, the report praised improvements to Title IX compliance made by the university system over the last several years while suggesting new measures, including at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Though its overall focus was broad, the report addressed three specific student populations across the university system: fraternity and sorority life, residential life and athletics.
"The Commission strongly encourages Title IX Coordinators at UTK (Knoxville), UTC and UTM (Martin) to work with the new athletics leadership to continue to prioritize education, prevention and response efforts in athletics for students and staff, coaches and department volunteers," the report reads.
UT system president Joe DiPietro announced the creation of the commission in July 2016, when the university settled a lawsuit brought by eight women who alleged that the university violated Title IX regulations through a policy of indifference toward sexual assaults committed by athletes.
Since the lawsuit, UTK restructured one position and added another specifically to work with student-athletes on wellness issues, including sexual assault prevention, consent and communication. Both are employees of the Helen Ross McNabb Center, which is a parent agency to the Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee, according to UTK Center for Health Education and Wellness director Ashley Blamey.
"Part of that work is to make sure we're connecting to the external resources and experts in our community and to make sure there's increased transparency so we know we're getting the best resources for our student-athletes," Blamey said.
The report noted those efforts and the "intensive series" of Title IX trainings that the football and men's basketball programs participated in during the 2016-17 academic year.
Other suggestions pertaining to athletics made by the committee in the report:
- Conducting trainings at times during the year designed to effectively capture current student-athletes, first-year players and transfers, including protocols for hosting recruits and provisions of the NCAA Toolkit on Title IX, as appropriate.
- Reviewing the student-athlete transfer process to ensure that it addresses the recruitment of those who have been found responsible for sexual violence, dating and domestic violence, and violent stalking behaviors, and in the case of UTK, that it is consistent with conference expectations.
- Including Title IX nondiscrimination links on the athletics homepage and all recruiting sites.
- Consider including language regarding reporting obligations in individual job descriptions and employment contracts, including coaching contracts.
University administrators received the report last Thursday and plan to have university attorney Matthew Scoggins begin meeting with officials at individual campuses to address the report. DiPietro expressed in a Saturday meeting with the Times Free Press that the university is still early in its process of combing through the report.
But he said he feels the university has made "big in-roads" in strengthening the Title IX programming within the university's athletic programs.
"We've been very clear across the system, too, that there should be no interaction trying to influence judicial affairs from the athletic department, whether it be Chattanooga, Martin or Knoxville," DiPietro said. "That's a key component. That should not happen. We won't tolerate it."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.